They say baseball is a marathon and no team has embodied that more in the first two weeks of the 2026 season than your Minnesota Twins. After a rough start, an April winning streak once again has the Twins right back in the mix for the third season in a row, sweeping the division-favorite Detroit Tigers and moving over .500 for the first time.
Starting pitcher Mick Abel was dancing through raindrops all afternoon. He ended up not allowing a run, but the Tigers were able to get the first two batters
on base in each of the first two innings and had at least one batter in scoring position in five of the six innings Abel was on the mound. But you have to give him credit for battling through to keep the Tigers scoreless and deliver one of his best starts on a career-high 102 pitches. On a day where the bullpen was close to spent, Abel battled through and gave the Twins just enough length to squeak out a victory.
The Twins had plenty of base runners as well, despite just one run through the first seven innings. They took great at bats, hit balls hard that unluckily found gloves, were patient at the plate, and looked like a professional, complete lineup for the first time all season. Minnesota had at least one baserunner in every inning except the fifth, with the lone run coming on a Josh Bell moonshot to continue his hot start. 1-0 Twins.
After his three-hit afternoon, Bell is slashing .325/.440/.650 for a 1.090 and 173 wRC+. Will he keep it up for the entire season? Almost definitely not, but someone needed to step up while Buxton and Keaschall are finding their swings.
New Twin and someone you DEFINITELY knew about before this game Garrett Acton came in to pitch the 7th and hit Detroit’s no. 9 batter Jake Rogers and allowed a single to Colt Keith to put runners on the corners with one out. Gleyber Torres followed with a sac fly to knot the game at one apiece. Things could have spiraled from there, but a nifty catch in the left field corner by James Outman got the Twins out of the inning. Acton, thankfully, had a clean 8th, where the Twins were able to deliver the finishing blow in the bottom half of the inning.
With one out in the inning, Matt Wallner battled back from being down 1-2 to earn a walk, followed immediately by a Victor Caratini single to put two on for the bottom third of the lineup. Kody Clemens pulled a reverse Wally and went from up 3-0 to striking out, leaving things to Royce Lewis. After a brief mid-AB injury scare, Royce beat out an infield single and loaded the bases for Brooks Lee, who came in as a defensive sub after some pinch hitting switcharoos. Inarguably their worst hitter in the young season, Lee came up HUGE and delivered a single hit just hard enough to sneak past the glove of Detroit second baseman Zach McKinstry. That was all Garrett Acton and Eric Orze needed. 3-1 Twins win.
Before I wrap up my recap with a usual pithy comment of some sort, I want to give Royce Lewis his flowers. The overall numbers still aren’t looking great, but he is taking very good at bats, getting good hacks, and hitting the ball very hard even if it’s leading to outs. The season is incredibly young with the sample size incredibly small, but his 92.5 MPH average exit velocity is in the top 15% of the league. He’s DRASTICALLY reduced his chase rate and is top 15 in walk rate. That’s exactly how you make up your other physical tools taking a step back from his younger years. Plus, sprinting to to beat out an infield single immediately after tweaking your knee is something everyone in that locker room is going to love.
STUDS
- Josh Bell: 3-4, 1 HR
- Brooks: 1-1, 2 game winning RBIs
- Pitching B Squad (Abel, Acton, Orze): 9 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 9 K
- Royce Lewis: see soliloquy above
DUDS
NO DUDS, TWWWWINS WWWWIN
We’ll see you all in virtual Toronto tomorrow night!
